AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs NVIDIA CMP 70HX Comparison

# NVIDIA CMP 70HX vs AMD Radeon Pro W5500X — Benchmark Database Analysis

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX and AMD Radeon Pro W5500X occupy different corners of the GPU landscape, as reflected in their benchmark scores and architectural designs. The CMP 70HX delivers an average benchmark score of 30,476, placing it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, while the W5500X achieves 27,973, sitting in the 73rd percentile. The CMP 70HX leads by roughly 9% in average score — a meaningful gap, but the two cards serve fundamentally different purposes. The CMP 70HX is a mining-focused card with no display outputs, while the W5500X is a Radeon Pro workstation card with dual HDMI outputs. This distinction shapes every comparison that follows.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX wins decisively in raw compute throughput. Its FP32 performance of 10.71 TFLOPS is nearly double the W5500X's 5.398 TFLOPS. The CMP 70HX also holds advantages in pixel rate (89.28 GPixel/s vs 56.22 GPixel/s), memory bandwidth (608.3 GB/s vs 224.0 GB/s), and shading units (3840 vs 1536). In the two benchmark tests where they can be compared indirectly — Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan — the CMP 70HX scores 25,135 and 35,817 respectively, while the W5500X has no direct counterpart in those tests, only a Geekbench Metal score of 27,973.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X wins in areas relevant to its workstation role. It has a 7 nm process node from TSMC, compared to the 8 nm Samsung node of the CMP 70HX. The W5500X offers display outputs (2x HDMI 2.0b), while the CMP 70HX has none. The W5500X also has a higher boost clock (1757 MHz vs 1395 MHz) and a higher base clock ratio — though the CMP 70HX starts at a higher absolute base clock (1365 MHz vs 1187 MHz). The W5500X's FP16 performance of 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) slightly exceeds the CMP 70HX's 10.71 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicating different compute precision strategies. The W5500X also consumes less power with a 125 W TDP, while the CMP 70HX has no listed TDP but suggests a 200 W power supply.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split: the NVIDIA CMP 70HX is the compute-oriented card, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X is the display-oriented workstation card. For tasks that demand maximum FP32 throughput, texture fill, and memory bandwidth, the CMP 70HX is the stronger choice — its 10.71 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS is a 98% advantage, and its 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is 2.7 times the W5500X's 224.0 GB/s. For users who need to output video to displays, the W5500X is the only option here, as the CMP 70HX has no display outputs at all.

The CMP 70HX also wins on architecture features: it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) with 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, while the W5500X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) with no ray tracing or tensor cores listed. The W5500X counters with a smaller 158 mm² die and 6,400 million transistors versus the CMP 70HX's 392 mm² and 17,400 million, making it the more power-efficient design per transistor. However, the CMP 70HX has a higher transistor density (44.4M / mm² vs 40.5M / mm²). Neither card is in production — both are listed as end-of-life — so the choice depends entirely on workload requirements rather than availability.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct head-to-head benchmark list is empty, so the comparison relies on the individual benchmark suites and average scores. The CMP 70HX's average benchmark score of 30,476 puts it 8.9% ahead of the W5500X's 27,973. In percentile terms, the CMP 70HX sits at the 75th percentile of all GPUs, two points above the W5500X's 73rd percentile.

Looking at the CMP 70HX's nearest rivals provides context: it is virtually tied with the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (30,490, 0% delta) and AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30,433, 0.1% delta), and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30,095, 1.3% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29,945, 1.8% delta). The W5500X's nearest rivals show a tighter cluster: it is 0.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and 0.5% behind the AMD FirePro S7150 (28,117), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883) by 0.3% and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839) by 0.5%. These delta percentages show the CMP 70HX competing in a higher performance tier overall, while the W5500X sits in a mid-range workstation bracket.

The largest single-score advantage for the CMP 70HX comes from its Geekbench Vulkan result of 35,817, which exceeds its own OpenCL score of 25,135 by 42.5% — suggesting strong compute API efficiency. The W5500X's Metal score of 27,973 is its only benchmark, reflecting its Mac-oriented design (the generation is listed as "Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series)"). In terms of raw FP32, the CMP 70HX's 10.71 TFLOPS is 98.4% higher than the W5500X's 5.398 TFLOPS, the largest proportional gap in any comparable metric.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX, with FP32 performance of 10.71 TFLOPS versus the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X's 5.398 TFLOPS — a 98% advantage.

Q: Can either card output video to a display?

A: Only the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, which has 2x HDMI 2.0b outputs. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has no display outputs.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The CMP 70HX averages 30,476 across its benchmarks, while the W5500X averages 27,973 — a difference of about 8.9% in favor of the CMP 70HX.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX, which includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has no ray tracing or tensor cores and is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: Both have 8 GB of memory, but the CMP 70HX uses GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the W5500X uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has a listed TDP of 125 W, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX has no TDP listed but suggests a 200 W power supply. The W5500X also uses a smaller 7 nm process node versus the CMP 70HX's 8 nm node.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural lineages. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 14 chip, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It contains 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, with a transistor density of 40.5M per mm².

The CMP 70HX is a mining-generation GPU with no display outputs and a PCIe 1.0 x4 bus interface, reflecting its compute-only design. The W5500X uses an Apple MPX bus interface and is part of the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series), with dual HDMI 2.0b outputs for professional display use. The CMP 70HX includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, enabling DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) features, while the W5500X has no RT or tensor cores and is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the CMP 70HX's API list includes the full DirectX 12 Ultimate specification.

The CMP 70HX's memory subsystem uses GDDR6X at 19 Gbps effective across a 256-bit bus, achieving 608.3 GB/s bandwidth. The W5500X uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective across a 128-bit bus, achieving 224.0 GB/s. The CMP 70HX has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the W5500X has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The FP16 performance is notable: the CMP 70HX offers 10.71 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the W5500X offers 10.80 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning the W5500X doubles its FP32 throughput when using FP16, while the CMP 70HX does not.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height, with a single 12-pin power connector and a suggested 200 W power supply. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X is also dual-slot but has no listed dimensions or power connectors, with a suggested 300 W power supply and a 125 W TDP. The CMP 70HX has no TDP listed.

Process node: 8 nm (Samsung) for the CMP 70HX versus 7 nm (TSMC) for the W5500X. Transistors: 17,400 million versus 6,400 million. Die size: 392 mm² versus 158 mm². Transistor density: 44.4M per mm² versus 40.5M per mm². Base clock: 1365 MHz versus 1187 MHz. Boost clock: 1395 MHz versus 1757 MHz. Memory clock: 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Memory type: GDDR6X versus GDDR6. Bus width: 256-bit versus 128-bit. Bandwidth: 608.3 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Shading units: 3840 versus 1536. TMUs: 120 versus 96. ROPs: 64 versus 32. RT cores: 30 versus none. Tensor cores: 120 versus none. Pixel rate: 89.28 GPixel/s versus 56.22 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 167.4 GTexel/s versus 168.7 GTexel/s. FP32: 10.71 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS. FP16: 10.71 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1). Bus interface: PCIe 1.0 x4 versus Apple MPX. Display outputs: none versus 2x HDMI 2.0b. DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_1). The W5500X has a release date of 2019-12-10 and a launch MSRP of 599 USD, while the CMP 70HX has no release date or MSRP listed.